Gateshead grabbed the bragging rights in the Tyne Blyth Derby, but walk away with pride in a game marred by Blyth fans invading the away end to cause trouble.
The match started off with both sides playing football, with Gateshead keeping the ball moving from wing to wing.
Blyth took the lead after a mix up between Jack Norton and his defence, this left Blyth’s Rowntree with a easy chip over the stranded Norton from the edge on the area.
Gateshead continued to play football and kept much of the possession in the first half after the goal, but the final ball into the box was not finding a Heed player.
After the break the Tynesiders took their game to the next level and began to dominate the ball inside the Blyth half.
The Blyth half the pitch resembled a Hawaiian beach, as it was just wave after wave of Gateshead attacks on the Blyth box.
Craig Nelthorpe showed his class and skill by ripping Blyth’s right back apart time after time. Lee Novak ran his heart out and was finding more of the ball in the second half.
Gateshead levelled the match when Nelthorpe lofted in a great ball to find Armstrong to head home an easy ball past the stranded Spartans keeper.
Blyth’s Brown was sent off after bringing down Lee Novak on the edge of the area, Novak had latched onto a great through ball from Southern, and only had the keeper to beat, yet Brown chopped him down from behind and saw red to the delight of the traveling Heed Army.
Blyth brought on Robbie Dale to try and salvage something from the game but one man doesn't make a team and the tall front man was ineffective for the Spartans.
Ten man Spartans started to feel the pressure of the Gateshead passing game and resorted to lumping the ball up field and getting every man back.
Graeme Armstrong pounced on a deflected Davie Southern pass and found himself with just the keeper to beat and scored to seal the winner in injury time to start the celebrations and mass exodus of Spartan fans from Croft Park.
Although the game was played in the right manor and had a great atmosphere generated by both sets of fans, sadly two Blyth fans let their club down by gaining access to the segregated Gateshead fans and tried to start trouble by goading the away support before the police removed them. A sad time for Local Non-League Football!!!!
Line Up and ratings:
Norton 7
Little shaky but recovered well after going walkabout for the Blyth goal
Baxter 7
One or two missed passes but covered a lot of ground
Phillips 8
Never put a foot wrong, created a lot throughout
Hocking 7
Needs to clear the ball first time
Curtis 8
Man mountain at the back
Harwood 7
Didn’t get as many ball in the box as he could have
Nelthorpe 9
Blyth could not get near him, class act
S. Turnbull 6
Was shaky at times and need to keep his head up
Gate 8 (Captain)
Played like a Captain, never shirked a tackle
Novak 8
Made life hell for Spartans
Armstrong 9
Never gave up and got his glory by grabbing two well worked Gateshead goals
Man of the Match
Subs:
Francis 7
Got stuck in from the get go
Southern 8
Made an impact and created the winner
P. Turnbull (Not Used)
Thompson (Not Used)
Brackstone (Not Used)
